TV GUIDE: Laverne & Shirley
12x8 oil on panel, black floater frame
Gen-Z had the show “Friends”. Gen-X had “Laverne & Shirley”. Sure, … Lenny and Squiggy were a lot wackier than Chandler and Joey … and a lot less good-looking … and also a lot more over-the-top as caricatures … um, and maybe the show jumped the shark a bit in the later seasons … but …
okay fine … Gen-Z, you win this time… But if you enjoyed the on-screen friendship of Rachel and Monica, you’ll LOVE Laverne and Shirley, which arguably paved the way for future sitcoms featuring a comedic duo of two strong female leads.
(But also, Monica and Rachel weren’t two working class women in the 1950/60s, trying to challenge traditional stereotypes of a woman’s role in society … so of course they didn’t have to rely on slap-stick, physical comedy to get laughs.)
Here's what I wrote about a different painting of Laverne & Shirley I did about three years ago:
“Get yourself a friend who can be a Schlemiel (bungling dolt) to your Schlemazl (chronically unlucky sap).
See? In case you don’t know Yiddish, I’ve saved you the trouble of looking these words up. Can you even believe how generous I become around the holidays? Don't get used to it. I go back to being a shmendrik on January first.”
I feel like this post still applies. I’m also feeling lazy about writing descriptions for all 25 paintings I did for the 25 days of minis this year, so this is all I got.
#25daysofminis #25daysofminis2024 #oilpainting #originalpainting #art #supportlocalartists #HappyHolidays #retroTV #Laverne&Shirley #LaverneAndShirley #LaverneDeFazio #ShirleyFeeney #CindyWilliams #PennyMarshall